Sunland Park city councilor arrested

LAS CRUCES — Sunland Park City Councilor Daniel De Los Santos has been charged with a fourth-degree felony.

De Los Santos, 22, was arrested Saturday by Sunland Park police for allegedly providing alcoholic beverages — beer, according to a police report — to two 19-year-olds, including his girlfriend. De Los Santos has been charged with two counts of selling or giving alcoholic beverages to a minor, a fourth-degree felony, according to a criminal complaint filed in state Magistrate Court, in Las Cruces.

Magistrate Court records show De Los Santos posted a $1,000 unsecured bond and was released on his own recognizance Saturday from the Doña Ana County Detention Center.

De Los Santos is scheduled for an initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Beverly Singleman at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

De Los Santos told a Sunland Park police detective he received an "anonymous" text message of a party in the 100 block of Mesa Verde, in Sunland Park.

"He also admitted that he brought his own beer and supplied two beers to his friend ... and two beers to his girlfriend," Sunland Park Detective Andy Sanchez stated in a court document.

De Los Santos was elected to a four-year council term in March 2014.

Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea has said any elected city official could be forced to give up their position if convicted of a felony.

"I know as much as was in the police report," Perea said. "... There was a council meeting earlier this week and he did not attend. It is a personal matter, and that is how it is being handled. However, personal matters can also involve consequences beyond just being an elected official."

De Los Santos is the second Sunland Park city councilor to be arrested in recent weeks. Councilor Sergio R. Carrillo, 29, was arrested at Sunland Park City Hall during a Sept. 29 special meeting of the Sunland Park city council, Carrillo was charged with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both charges are misdemeanor offenses.

Another Sunland Park city councilor, Francisco Jayme, had a run-in with the law earlier this year. In May, New Mexico federal bankruptcy court Judge David Thurma ordered U.S. marshals to remove Jayme from a Sunland Park home for allegedly failing to pay rent for years.